18" wheel advice

[Andy Beats]

These are for my car, so not Polo related, but I've seen it discussed on here in connection with Polos and I trust your judgement.
I've just bought some 18" 7.5J alloys and I'm unsure which size tyres I should fit.
I reckon 225/40 or 225/45, what say you?
The 40s are quite a bit cheaper, and should be OK as they're the same profile as on the Polo GTi?

[SRGTD]

You need to ensure the overall rolling radius / circumference of any new wheel / tyre set up is as close as possible to that of the original wheel / tyre set up. The calculator at www.willtheyfit.com should help - just input the wheel / tyre size of your original wheels and your new wheels will each of the tyre sizes you’re considering and it’ll calculate the important numbers for you.

If your new wheels are either Nissan alloys intended for the Leaf or you’ve bought them from one of the reputable on line alloy wheel retailers, then the bolt pattern and offset should be appropriate to your car. If not, then you may have fitment issues.

Also, don’t forget to notify your insurers, as fitting new alloys is a modification for insurance purposes.

[Andy Beats]

I'm OK on the bolts/ET and all that, they're off a Qashqai and they fit the Leaf.
Also OK on the insurance etc.
Doesn't even look like much speed error either (if going for the 225/40 x 18)
I think I'll go 40, as they're cheaper and the 45s look like they're more designed to fill the arches of a Juke/Qashqai etc.

[monkeyhanger]

I'm OK on the bolts/ET and all that, they're off a Qashqai and they fit the Leaf.
Also OK on the insurance etc.
Doesn't even look like much speed error either (if going for the 225/40 x 18)
I think I'll go 40, as they're cheaper and the 45s look like they're more designed to fill the arches of a Juke/Qashqai etc.

What's the standard fit on the Leaf? What size wheels and tyres. With that info I can work out the rolling circumference.

Not sure what the Leaf is like, but on the ID3 tyre choices are more like SUV size 215/55 R18.

Definitely fine for ET/width? Are standard Leaf wheels 7.5" wide? Might need to check your tyres won't snag anything at full lock.

[SRGTD]

What's the standard fit on the Leaf? What size wheels and tyres. With that info I can work out the rolling circumference.

Not sure what the Leaf is like, but on the ID3 tyre choices are more like SUV size 215/55 R18.

Definitely fine for ET/width? Are standard Leaf wheels 7.5" wide? Might need to check your tyres won't snag anything at full lock.

The calculator on www.willtheyfit.com will calculate rolling circumference for the existing and new set up If existing and new wheel/tyre details are input. If the wheel’s width and offset for both old and new wheels are also input into the calculator, it’ll also calculate changes in the amount of clearance between the wheel’s inner face and suspension strut, along with any changes in tuck or poke of the wheel’s outer face.

Using an alloy wheel retailer website such as www.rimstyle.com and inputting Nissan Leaf as the vehicle details, only wheels that will physically and safely fit the Leaf will be displayed, along with the technical details (diameter, width and offset) of those wheels. It’ll also show the recommended tyre size. Assuming there’ll be some wheels on Rimstyle that are the same or similar spec to the Qashqai wheels that Andy is planning on fitting to his car, and also using the ‘Will They Fit’ calculator results, it should be possible to confirm whether or not there’ll be any fitment and / or tyre rubbing issues.

However, the one unknown might be the load limit of the Qashqai alloys and whether or not those wheels will safely support the weight of a Nissan Leaf EV (load limit of the wheels on each axle needs to be greater than the axle weight to be supported). From Nissan’s website the weight of the Leaf is;
40kwh models; kerb weight 1,580 - 1,640 kg, Gross vehicle weight; 1,995 kg.
62kwh models; kerb weight 1,709 - 1,726 kg. Gross vehicle weight; 2,140 kg.
Carwow gives the weight of the previous generation Qashqai model range as 1,331kg-1614kg. Nissan’s website gives the following figures for the all new Qashqai (entry level Visia model) Kerb weight; 1,331 - 1,356 kg and gross vehicle weight; 1,935 kg.

Presumably Nissan will have factored a margin of safety into the load limit of the Qashqai’s wheels too so they’ll safely support a car that’s heavier than the Qashqai (how big any safety margin might be is is anyone’s guess though), but the above figures indicate the Leaf isn’t a lightweight car compared to Qashqai, and IMHO the load limit of its wheels is an important safety consideration if they’re being fitted to a heavier Leaf.

[Andy Beats]

That rimstyle website is great, thanks.
They confirm 18 in 7.5J with ET45 will fit.
It’s the 40 Leaf I have, I’m not concerned the weight will be an issue.
Nissan will have spec’d the Qashqai wheels for a full load of passengers, fuel, luggage etc
That’s hundreds of kilos extra I won’t ever encounter.

[monkeyhanger]

That rimstyle website is great, thanks.
They confirm 18 in 7.5J with ET45 will fit.
It’s the 40 Leaf I have, I’m not concerned the weight will be an issue.
Nissan will have spec’d the Qashqai wheels for a full load of passengers, fuel, luggage etc
That’s hundreds of kilos extra I won’t ever encounter.

Looks like official current Nissan Leaf tyre sizes are 205/55 R16 and 215/50 R17.

Simplistic tyre fitted wheel diameter calculations (assuming tread/shoulder considerations are the same):

205/55 R16= 631.9mm
215/50 R17= 646.8mm

If you go 225/40 R18, diameter= 637.2mm

Those 2 wheel sizes on the Nissan are far enough apart for them each to be calibrated differently, but the 225/40s are smack in the middle of the 2. The 225/40s are less than 1% out from either of the official sizes.

You have one more issue to consider though. I would be looking to get the "XL" load rating (91-93) variants - that Nissan is a heavy lump compared to your average ICE car sharing that wheel size.

[Andy Beats]

Cheers monkey, yeah I saw the calculator said my Speedo won’t be affected much at all (I’ve got the 205/55 16s as standard)
The standard load rating is 91 and I’m pretty sure the 225/40 Dunlops I’m looking at are 92.

[monkeyhanger]

Cheers monkey, yeah I saw the calculator said my Speedo won’t be affected much at all (I’ve got the 205/55 16s as standard)
The standard load rating is 91 and I’m pretty sure the 225/40 Dunlops I’m looking at are 92.

The Michelin PS4s I bought for the Polo GTI were XL 92, so not a rarity. If you know anyone with a Cpstco card, the Michelin range is on offer at the moment, you'll get £80.off a set of 4, making them about £315 the set.

In a few weeks time, they'll probably have offers on Goodyear (Eagle Asy 5 equally good) as Costco seem to rotate offers between Michelin, Goodyear and Bridgestone.

[Andy Beats]

Thanks, I think I’ll buy the tyres loose and get a local place to fit them along with swapping over the TPMS gubbins to the new wheels.
4 x new Dunlops in 225/40 are £268
£540 for the wheels.
Then another £xxx for the fitting and TPMS swap

[Andy Beats]

Need more advice guys...
The garage called to say they can't fit them as the nuts are wrong.
Nothing wrong with the wheels, or the studs that poke out of the Leaf hubs
He says it's the pitch of the nuts that's the problem and using the Leaf nuts will result in loose wheels in minutes.
He says to buy Qashqai nuts, but the Qashqai the wheels came off uses stud bolts into a female hub - the Leaf is a male hub and nuts.

Anyone got any clue what he means??

[SRGTD]

I’m not sure your wheel fitter was referring to the profile of the mating surface of the wheel nuts (or bolts) or the thread pattern on the inside of your wheel nuts. I think it might have been be the former. If it was, then hopefully the picture below help;

E14A2922-85EA-49C4-B9B5-B05D75D1C89F.jpeg (35.5 KiB) Viewed 1671 times

The picture above shows wheel bolts rather than nuts, but you can see there are three different types; tapered, conical (or radius) and square / flat. I’m assuming that with wheel nuts for fixing alloys to male hubs, there are also the three different types. It might be that the bolt hole profile in the Qashqai alloys is different to that in your existing Leaf alloys, in which case it wouldn’t be possible to use your Leaf wheel nuts as it wouldn’t be able to get a flush, tight fit between the mating surface in the wheel’s bolt hole and the wheel nut (hope that makes sense!), so there would be a risk of the nuts and wheels working loose.

The thread pattern inside your wheel nuts it what’s usually referred to as the thread pitch, and for obvious reasons the thread pitch of the nuts and the stud must be the same, otherwise it won’t be possible to physically fit the nuts onto the hub studs. If you’d supplied just your original nuts to the fitter to attach the new wheels to your car, there shouldn’t have been any issue with the actual thread pitch as the wheel nuts would’ve been going back on the car they came off. That’s why I think they may have been referring to the profile of the mating surfaces of the wheel nuts and the holes in the Qashqai alloys, which presumably are different?

Is it possible that your Qashqai alloys aren’t genuine Nissan alloys but could be aftermarket copies? With VW, OEM alloys use conical / radius bolts and most aftermarket alloys use tapered bolts (there are a few exceptions - my aftermarket alloys use VW OEM conical bolts). If your Qashqai alloys are actually an aftermarket set with tapered profile bolt holes, then assuming Nissan factory alloys use conical bolts / nuts like VW, that might explain why the fitter said your OEM nuts couldn’t be used.

[Andy Beats]

Yeah, I deduced he meant the angle of the nuts, rather than the pitch.
The QQ wheels have a deep sloping hollow to them, the industry standard is 60 degrees I believe.
The Leaf nuts are more or less flat.
New nuts ordered.
They're Nissan wheels.